“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.”
(Dawn of the Dead reference, in case you didn’t know…)
I’ve always thought that if the zombie apocalypse comes, I’ll probably freeze up and become a sitting duck—sort of like a paraplegic in a wheelchair at the bottom of a long flight of stairs (the stairs being the only method of escape). Honestly, I just don’t know if I have it in me to be bad-ass enough to hack my way through hordes of walking dead (with the machete I keep on hand just in case of this very situation) and find a secure location where I’ll hang with a group of fellow survivors high-fiving safely around a campfire.
But? Terrified as I may be at the very thought of such a disaster actually happening, that doesn’t mean I don’t like me a good zombie flick. George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead has always been my favorite but thanks to AMC, I have a new favorite that I can watch weekly: The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series of the same name.
There’s something about seeing Rick Grimes, a suburban cop/father who wakes up from a coma in a hospital to find he’s been 28 Days Later-ed go through the transition of Hello, is anyone out there? Am I dreaming? WTF is going on here?, to a leader who will do whatever it takes to survive. I’m seeing a (very) slow decline in morals beginning to happen with Rick, (not-so-slow with some of the others), and it’s a cool thing to watch—but not as cool as special effects guru Greg Nicotero’s terrifying undead, some of the best zombies I’ve seen!
Here’s what I like most about The Walking Dead: strong acting, attention to detail, and great character development. It’s interesting to see the characters’ journey (as a group and also individually) from innocence in the face of the unthinkable, to a tough fight-to-survive (against zombies and the living) stance.
If you’re not already a huge fan like I am, be sure to check out The Walking Dead, Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on AMC. The pilot and entire first season are available for instant viewing on Netflix. I also recommend watching the award-winning webisodes (there are 6) if you haven’t already…
For the zombies, see creepy photo above and photos below:
